COMMODITY PROFILE – TURMERIC

OriginTurmeric is a rhizomatous herbaceous plants botanically know as Curcuma longa.Turmeric is a native of Tropical south Asia (India). The tuberous rhizomes orunderground stems of turmeric are used from antiquity as condiments, a dye and as anaromatic stimulant in several medicines. Turmeric is a very important spice in India.

CultivationTurmeric cultivation is confined to South East Asian countries such as India, Sri Lanka,China, Indonesia, Australia, Africa, Peru and the West Indies. The main growing states inIndia are Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa, and Kerala.Turmeric requires a hot and moist climate. It thrives the best on loamy or alluvial, loose,friable and fertile soils. It grows at all places ranging from sea level to an altitude of 1220m above MSL. It is very sensitive to low atmospheric temperature. It is grown both underrain fed and irrigated conditions. Like other tuber crops, turmeric also requires deep tilthand heavy manuring for high yields. Beds of convenient length and width are preparedbased on the topography of the land. Planting is done either on raised beds or on ridgesduring May–June.

Aroma and flavour

Raw turmeric rhizomes have to be cured for both colour and aroma. For this, the fingersand bulbs are boiled separately in water for 30 to 45 minutes until the rhizomes are soft.This procedure gets rid of the ‘raw’ colour, reduces drying time, gelatinises the starch andgives the turmeric a more uniform colour. Water is then drained and the turmeric sundried for 10-15 days until they become dry and hard. For imparting orange yellow colour,the rhizomes are boiled in limewater or sodium bicarbonate solution. The dried produceis cleaned and polished mechanically in a drum rotated by hand or by power.

Turmeric oleoresin is obtained by solvent extraction of the ground spice. It is orange-red

in colour and consists of colouring matter, volatile oil, fatty oils and bitter principles. Thevolatile oil gives the turmeric its characteristic flavour. The important quality attributes ofturmeric are size, physical form, colour, curcumin content, maturity, weight or bulkdensity, length and thickness, intensity of colour of the core and aroma.

Use – Culinary and medicinal

Turmeric is mainly used as spice or flavourant; colourant of brilliant yellow dye,cosmetic and drug. Turmeric has been used since ancient period for medical purpose. Ithas several medicinal properties like stomachic, carnivative, tonic, blood purifier,vermicide and antiseptic. The active constituent of turmeric is curcumin, which has awide range of therapeutic effects. Because it is a strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, it protects against free radical damage and accomplishes this by reducinghistamine levels and possibly by increasing production of natural cortisone by the adrenalglands. Curcumin also protects the liver from a number of toxic compounds. It avoidsplatelets from clumping together, which improves circulation and helps protect againstatherosclerosis.

Polishing: For better appearance of the produce, the dried produce can be polished inrotating drums.

StorageThe cured produce can be stored in pits of 4 x 3 x 2 m size. Pits are dug in elevated placeand dried for two days; bottom and sides of the pits are thickly lined with grass orPalmyrahmats. Subsequently cured produce is filled in pits and is covered with mats andfinally with earth. The materials can be stored for one year.

For preservation of seed rhizomes the material is stored by heaping them under the shadeof trees. Heaps are covered with turmeric leaf and plastered with soil and cow dungmixture. It can be left undisturbed for 2 - 3 months until sowing. Domestic scenario

Turmeric is grown as a Kharif crop in India. The crop-harvesting season starts betweenend of January and March in India. The country is the leading producer, consumer andexporter of turmeric in the world. It has near monopoly in this commodity. Indianturmeric has been known to the world since from ancient times. India accounts for 78%in world production and 60% in world export share. Major turmeric growing states areAndhra Pradesh (57%), Tamil Nadu (23%), Karnataka (6%) and Orissa (4%). Indianturmeric is considered as the best in the world because of its high curcumin content.

Crop seasonalityTurmeric is a 8-9 months crop. The main harvest season begins from end of January andextends up to March. Turmeric is harvested when leaves turn yellow and start drying up.In harvesting, the whole clump is lifted out with the dry plant, then the leafy tops are cutoff, the roots are removed, all the adhering mud particles are shaken or rubbed off and therhizomes are then washed well with water. The fingers, sometimes called the daughterrhizomes, are separated from the mother rhizomes and kept in shade for 2-3 days.

Crop calendarPlanting is done either on raised beds or on ridges during June. The crop-harvestingseason starts between end of January and March in India. It will start entering into themarket by March. The peak arrivals season will be between March and April.

Table-2: Turmeric crop calendar

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Turmeric

Harvesting period Sowing period Peak arrivals Fig-1: Area and production of turmeric in India

Area under turmeric cultivation is about 1.3 lakh ha annually. The yield will be around3000-4000 kgs per hectare. The production is estimated to be about 4 lakh tons perannum. From 2006-07 onwards, turmeric output started declining as farmers have shiftedto other remunerative crop like cotton and sugar cane.

State-wise area under turmeric (in Ha)

Fig-2: Turmeric production share in India 13% 12% 7% 6%

34% 28%

Andra Pradesh Tamil Nadu Orissa West Bengal Karnataka Others

Source: Spices Board of India

Note: Turmeric output an average stood at 4 lakh tons in India.Andhra Pradesh continued to hold majority of area under turmeric with a share of about34%. Meanwhile, area under turmeric in the state of Orissa is also significant althoughlevel of yield is anticipated to be lower in the state.

Tami Nadu enjoys higher yield of turmeric compared with most of other states. Although,the state has witnessed sharp decline in total production due to shifting of area towardsother crops such as sugarcane on account of poor price realization. Both Andhra Pradeshand Tamil Nadu constitute major share in India’s total production.

Andhra Pradesh: Karimnagar (21.9%), Nizamabad (18.6%), Guntur –

Table-3: Turmeric varieties and regions

Variety Regional/Belt State Nizamabad Nizamabad region Andhra Pradesh Duggirala Duggirala/Guntur Andhra Pradesh Warangala Warangala Andhra Pradesh Madras Erode, Salem Tamil Nadu Rajapore Sangli Maharashtra Sangli Sangli Maharashtra Alleppey Alleppey KeralaMarket size and trading centersThe market size for turmeric in the country is estimated to be in between Rs.2500 andRs.3000 crore annually. The major trading centers are: Nizamabad, Duggirala andKadapa in Andhra Pradesh, Sangli in Maharastra and Salem, Erode, Dharmapuri andCoimbatore in Tamil Nadu.Domestic consumptionTurmeric usage in the country dates back to several decades and its reference is evenfound in Vedic. Turmeric is being used mainly as a colouring agent. Turmeric is closelylinked with everything auspicious - hence indispensable element of all celebrations,festivals. India consumes about 90% of its total annual output.The majority of demand comes from households as a colouring agent in food items.Besides food usage, it has also been used by pharmacy and dyeing industry.

Consumer preference of various forms

Fig-3: Turmeric exports from India

Unit Value (Rs./kg)

42 35000 38

25000 34

30 15000 26

5000 22 2

9 -0

-0

-0

-0

-0

-0

-0

-0 01

02

03

04

05

06

07

08 20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

Quantity Value Unit Value

Source: Spices Board of India

India exports about 40,000 to 45,000 tons of turmeric per annum. It is shipped in the formof dry turmeric after polishing, fresh turmeric, turmeric powder, dehydrated turmericpowder, oils and oleoresins. In terms of volume, turmeric oleoresin account for about 200tons per annum and turmeric powder constitutes very small portion. Important turmericvarieties exported included Allepey finger turmeric, Rajapuri, Madras and Erode variety.Fig-4: Share of turmeric in spices exports-Quantity (Avg. from 2004-05 to 2008-09)

Fig-7: Turmeric prices seasonality index (2003 to 2008, Sep)

113

108

103

98

93

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Ju Ap Ja

Ju

Se Fe

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N M

Source: Department of Agriculture, AP

Turmeric prices will be hovering lower between January and June. This could be mainlyattributed to supply pressure due to new crop arrivals. New crops arrivals of turmericgradually increase from January onwards and peaks in the month of March. From Juneonwards prices will start moving up as the market approaches lean season. Prices peakduring October and December month of every year. Fig-8: Turmeric prices at Nizamabad market from 2001 to 2009

Price influencing factors

Area under turmeric

At the global level, turmeric production is distributed across the Asian region and Nigeriain Africa. Among the Asian countries, turmeric is widely cultivated in India, China,Myanmar and Bangladesh. India is the largest producer, consumer and exporter ofTurmeric. Other producers in Asia include Pakistan, Taiwan, and Indonesia. Turmeric isalso produced in the Caribbean and Latin America: Jamaica, Haiti, Costa Rica, Peru, andBrazil. Global production of turmeric is estimated around 6 to 7 lakh tons.

Fig-9: Major producers and their percentage share

78

3 4 4 3

India China Myanmar Nigeria Bangladesh Others

Source: Spices Board of India

Note: The global output an average stood at 6 to 7 lakh tons.

Major importers of turmeric

The major importers of turmeric are the Middle East and North African countries, Iran,Japan and Sri Lanka. These importing countries represent 75% of the turmeric worldtrade, and are mostly supplied by the Asian producing countries.